Work to Begin on UW Student Memorial, Plaza

Construction of a memorial and plaza honoring University of Wyoming students will take place this summer, following action by the UW Board of Trustees today (Monday).

The board authorized a contract with ARCON Inc. of Laramie for the bulk of the estimated $234,541 project, which is funded by the Associated Students of UW (ASUW) Student Services Endowment.

In 2012, ASUW leaders initiated the project as a way to honor students who have died while attending UW. The memorial and plaza, to be developed at the east end of Prexy’s Pasture near the Half Acre Recreation and Wellness Center, will provide a setting for people to gather to remember and recognize deceased students.

Work is scheduled to begin in early July and be finished by Oct. 1.

The design includes native sandstone blocks and granite boulders set in low retaining walls with raised planting beds. Much of the sandstone that will be used was salvaged from the Half Acre renovation project. A combination of colored concrete and flagstone paving will define the boundaries of the memorial.

Landscaping will include small ornamental shrubs, native ground cover, alpine plant beds and bluegrass sod to harmonize with Prexy’s Pasture. A new line of spruce trees to supplement established trees also may be included from a separate funding source.

The student memorial and plaza will complement other plazas developed around Prexy’s Pasture in recent years, including Simpson Plaza at the southeast corner near the Wyoming Union, Sullivan Plaza near the Education Building and Cheney Plaza at the southwest corner adjacent to the Cheney International Center.

In other action today, the Board of Trustees:

-- Approved an electrical line easement for Rocky Mountain Power to upgrade electrical service to the Soils Preparation Lab at the Laramie Research and Extension Center Livestock Farm west of Laramie. The power upgrade will support the relocation of two 3-phase drying ovens to the lab.

-- Authorized the sale and removal of about nine UW-owned buildings located within the site of the planned Engineering Building expansion project on the block between Bradley and Lewis streets and 11th and 12th streets. The structures, which have been used as rentals for students and visiting faculty members, will be advertised for sale and removal to pave the way for the Engineering Building project. The current schedule calls for the buildings to be removed no later than spring 2016, with site clearing to follow in the spring and summer of 2016.

-- Authorized submission of a grant application to the Wyoming Water Development Commission for well development at Red Jacoby Golf Course. That action is in response to a $2.6 million legislative appropriation for irrigation system improvements at the golf course. The wells would make it possible for the course to be watered with non-treated water, rather than the potable water from the city of Laramie now used to irrigate the course.